Chicago OKs deal with new red light camera vendor

Xerox State & Local Solutions to get $19 million to replace cameras and up to $44 million for 5-year pact

October 26, 2013|By Bill Ruthhart, Chicago Tribune reporter

Detail of a Redflex camera at the intersection of Diversey, Damen, and Clybourn in Chicago on Friday, March 1, 2013. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration announced Friday that it has reached an agreement to replace the city's troubled red light camera operator that has been embroiled in a federal bribery investigation at City Hall.

As a result of the changeover, the city will pay the new vendor to replace much of the $19 million in equipment bought under former Mayor Richard Daley to operate 384 cameras at 190 intersections across Chicago.

The new five-year deal with Maryland-based Xerox State & Local Solutions Inc. is worth up to $44 million. The contract, signed Thursday, allows for three two-year extensions.

Xerox replaces Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., which has been under federal investigation in connection with a $2 million bribery scheme following Tribune reports about an improper relationship between company executives and the city official who oversaw the $300 million red light ticketing program.

Emanuel fired Redflex in February in the wake of the reports and gave the company six months to leave town. The move to evict Redflex hit a snag because of confusion over how a new company could operate Redflex equipment the city had purchased.

So the company's contract was extended and will run out Jan. 31, city spokesman Bill McCaffrey said. But under the new deal, Xerox has seven months — until May 24 — to take full control of the red light system, meaning Redflex's contract could be extended yet again, McCaffrey said. In its 10-year run as the city's red light vendor, Redflex has earned more than $100 million.

The city selected Xerox as the winning bidder in August, and at the time the mayor's office said the company was favored in part because of its plan to reuse as much of the city-owned Redflex equipment as possible.

But under its deal with the city, Xerox is expected to replace all of the Redflex cameras and flashes the city purchased, McCaffrey said. Although Xerox may choose to run some of the old cameras on its operating system, it is not expected to repair or perform any maintenance on Redflex equipment, he said. The city will lease cameras from Xerox instead of buying them as it did with Redflex, he added.

There is no clear timetable for when Xerox might replace all the cameras, and the contract leaves the decision up to the company, McCaffrey said. The company is, however, expected to use the poles and cabinets that house the city's existing cameras, he said.

Earlier this year, Xerox lost its Baltimore speed camera contract after acknowledging that its faulty equipment resulted in thousands of erroneous tickets. The company was replaced there by a vendor the city said offered a higher return after reports in The Baltimore Sun that documented problems. Xerox officials have said the problems in Baltimore accounted for less than 1 percent of all the tickets issued there.